A forthright 95* by Colin Ingram plus a quickfire 59* from 40 balls by Kiran Carlson who added 98 in ten overs saw Glamorgan to victory over the Sussex Sharks by six wickets with ten balls to spare in their Royal London One-Day Cup match at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff.
Glamorgan made one change to their side which lost at Chelmsford on Wednesday against the Essex Eagles, with Kiran Carlson replacing Ruaidhri Smith, so it was Lukas Carey who shared the new ball with Timm van der Gugten as the Welsh county opted to bowl first on the green tinged surface after winning the toss. The Dutchman nearly struck in his first over but a thick edge from Luke Wright flew just over the head of second slip, with the opener celebrating his good fortune by cover-driving the next ball for four. Successive fours then followed in Carey’s second over as he drove the seamer to the boards at extra cover and long-off.
Wright then biffed van der Gugten to long-on for four before Wells top-edged a pull against the Dutchman which saw the ball sail over the River Stand for six but with the total on 41, Wells miscued another delivery from van der Gugten with Colin Ingram completing the catch running in from mid-on.. With Harry Finch as his new partner, Wright then on-drove and leg glanced van der Gugten for further boundaries before driving the last ball of the opening batch of powerplays to the mid-off boundary as the Sharks reached 57/1 after ten overs.
After three frugal overs, Carey found the edge of Wright’s bat but the ball sped away to fine-leg, but Wright also edged the next as he attempted a leg glance and Chris Cooke completed the catch. 62/2 saw Ben Brown join Finch as Andrew Salter’s off-spin was introduced. In tandem with Carey. Finch drilled the latter through extra-cover before Graham Wagg replaced Carey and was pulled for four by Brown.
But this was a rare boundary as Wagg and Salter restricted the batsmen to just one’s and two’s, and the drop in tempo led to a mix-up in calling as Brown was sent back by his partner as he attempted to sneak a single to cover, only for Carlson to make a direct hit at the batsman’s end. 109/3 then became 115/4 as Salter’s parsimony was rewarded as Finch rashly attempted to sweep the spinner and departed l.b.w.
Michael Burgess and Laurie Finch were also kept quiet by the home attack, with van der Gugten returning to remove Evans who, with the total on 126, miscued a drive to David Lloyd at mid-on. Lloyd then entered the attack and was drilled by David Wiese for six and four to wide mid-wicket – the first boundaries for sixteen overs – before Burgess swatted a long-hop from Ingram for another maximum, followed by a pull for four against Lloyd.
After bringing up the fifty-stand, Wiese late cut Lloyd for four before Burgess greeted the return of Carey by pulling him for six. Wiese also cover drove Carey for four as Sussex entered the final batch of powerplays on 199/5 before pulling Ingram to complete a 48-ball fifty. Burgess also straight drove Carey for six to reach his own fifty from 39 balls before Wiese brought up the century stand by pulling van der Gugten for four before doing the same to Carey for six into the Pavilion.
Burgess then lofted Carey for six inches over the outstretched hands of the fielder at long-on but he was not so lucky in the next over as he drove Wagg into the hands of Ingram at deep extra-cover. 245/6 saw Chris Jordan make his way to the middle for his first innings since his spell in the IPL, He was soon joined by another man to have spent time in the 20 over tournament as Jofra Archer took guard after Wiese cut van der Gugten to backward point where Connor Brown completed a good catch.
The pair worked the ball around, but only struck one boundary with Archer playing a cheeky ramp stroke for four against Wagg in the final over before holing out at extra cover off the final delivery as the Sharks ended on 277/8. Nick Selman then launched Glamorgan’s reply by cutting Archer’s second delivery for four before doing the same to Ishant Sharma. He also clipped the Indian to mid-wicket but the bowler made the perfect riposte by bowling the opener.
Brown joined Donald with the scoreboard reading 21/1 and he began by guiding Sharma through the slips for four. Donald punched Archer off the back foot through point for four before glancing him to fine-leg. Brown also did the same to the Indian before Donald drilled him through mid-wicket for another boundary. The young tyro then glanced Wiese to fine-leg as Glamorgan ended the first batch of powerplay overs on 62/1 before pulling successive balls from Jordan to the ropes at mid-wicket.
Brown also drove Wiese square of the wicket for another well-timed four but with the total on 90 in the 18th over he lost his partner as Donald clipped Jordan to the fielder positioned on the square-leg boundary. Ingram duly joined Brown as Danny Briggs entered the attack at the Cathedral Road End. Ingram began with a brace of singles but with the total on 106, Sharma returned at the River End and removed Brown who miscued a pull to mid-on where Wiese held a tumbling catch.
Lloyd also began with a series of singles before Ingram harpooned Briggs for six over deep mid-wicket followed by a rasping pair of fours as he square drove and straight drove Sharma. He then reverse-swept Briggs for four before driving his next delivery through mid-off before reaching 50 from 56 balls. He then swept Briggs for four before pulling Jordan to the ropes at mid-wicket as the target dropped below 100, but in the 39th over, Jordan returned at the River End and trapped Lloyd leg before.
183/4 saw Carlson join his captain as the task became 89 from the final ten overs. Ingram responded by driving Wiese to the ropes at mid-wicket but he was fortunate net over as the bowler, now stationed at deep square-leg spilled a lofted sweep. Carlson then brought up the 200 by lofting Briggs straight for six before impishly advancing down the wicket to Wiese and swatting him for four to fine-leg.as the task became 63 off 42 balls.
Carlson added further sixes to his tally as he lofted Archer high over mid-wicket before hoisting Archer over square-leg as the target became 47 from 30 balls. Carlson responded by top-edging a pull against Sharma to fine-leg before Ingram cut the Indian through point for four. After a series of wides by Sharma, Burgess at deep square-leg spilled a difficult running catch as Carlson had a life in an over costing 14 runs.
The equation therefore became 33 from 24 balls with Carlson lofting a cover-drive for six against Archer before Ingram drilled him to mid-wicket for four. Carlson also deftly steered Jordan through point for four en route to a 37-ball fifty. Ingram then despatched a free hit from Jordan over backward point for six. Five were needed from 12 balls as Carlson brought the scores level with a top-edge pull before lofting the next delivery high over extra-cover for four as Glamorgan won with ten balls to spare.